Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM Top 10 – Best of December 2017

First broadcast date: 31 January 2018

Gilles Peterson presents the Worldwide FM Top Ten for December, a monthly chart of ten tracks that sums up his favourite moments on the station, including music played, guest appearances, interviews, tributes and special broadcasts.

Listen to Worldwide FM on the move via the free app and keep up to date with the latest shows and other happenings at on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Mixcloud.

A Message From Earth: Africa with DJ Juls // 29-12-17

Track: Juls – Gwarn

This was a celebration of the Voyager Golden Record, which was sent into space 40 years ago. Gilles curated interviews and mixes from two artists on each continent to honour WeTransfer’s project of ideas from 40 cultural luminaries. For this show we had BBC 1xtra presenter DJ Edu on selection duties and DJ Juls dissecting the Afropop movement from across the continent. Watch the discussion below.

Brownswood Basement: Kokoroko (Live) // 14-12-17

London based seven-piece band Kokoroko came to the Brownswood Basement in December. Consisting of some hugely talented muscians including Oscar Jerome, Sheila Maurice Grey and Cassie Kinoshi, Kokoroko takes influence from West African music with a London jazz edge. The collective also featured on the latest Brownswood compilation We Out Herewith ‘Abussy Junction’.

The Gold Griot: a Soundtrack to the Life and Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat // 22-12-17

Track: Gray – Drum Mode [White Label]

Worldwide FM regular Leanne Wright produced a audio documentary to celebrate the legendary American avant-garde artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Made in conjunction with The Barbican, who put on an extensive exhibition of his work, he podcast looked into the music that influenced Baquiat’s life, with close friends Fred Brathwaite and DJ Justin Strauss telling the tales.

Andy Votel’s Niche Market: Vol 4. Twelve Bar Booze // 25-12-17

Track: Dorothy Ashby – Wine [Cadet Records]

Twisted Nerve Records and Finders Keepers co-founder Andy Votel looked back on his three previous Niche Market shows in a special Christmas edition. Andy also supplied a new volume of his series, Twelve Bar Booze, where he created an audio pub crawl for the year’s best tracks.

Emma Warren & Kieran Yates: 2017 Round Up Show // 30-12-17

Track: SZA – Go Gina [Top Dawg Entertainment]

Over the Christmas period we asked our regular hosts to curate shows made up of their favourite tracks from 2017. One highlight was from Guardian and Red Bull journalists Emma Warren and Keiran Yates, who dissected music trends in 2017 and discussed what’s been unique about lyricism in 2017.

Brownswood Basement Extra: China Moses (Live) // 28-12-17

Track: China Moses – Breaking Point (Live WWFM Version)

This all-star Brownswood Basement session saw Gilles joined by China Moses, D.A.N and Matias Aguayo. China, daughter of jazz singer Dee Dee Brightwater, performed music from her recently released sixth studio album Nightingales. During the show Gilles called Dee Dee Brightwater and she joined her daughter to chat about a certain Roy Ayres track, which you can watch performed below.

Kon: 45s Special // 26-12-17

Another December favourite from our Christmas schedule was Kon, who delved deep into his crates for a strictly 45s mix, recorded live in Japan. The mix included tracks from The O’Jays, Mifflin Ensemble, Le Cop, Robbie M, Sinnamon and GQ.

Global Roots: Thris Tian with Jehst // 15-12-17

Oon his weekly Global Roots show, Thris Tian was joined in the studio by rapper Jehst, considered one of the godfathers of UK hip-hop. In the clip Jehst and Thris look back on the early days of UK hip-hop and it’s relationship with grime. The featured track is a Global Roots favourite of 2017, released on Jehst’s Billy Green is Dead album.

Gilles Peterson with Knoel Scott // 30-12-17

Track: Sun Ra and his Arkestra – Yeah Man [Modern Harmonic]

Another highlight from the festive period, Gilles was joined by future Sun-Ra Band leader and legendary saxophonist and vocalist Knoel Scott. An original member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Knoel currently works on both sides of the Atlantic, touring with the Sun Ra Arkestra in the US and working on his own Knoel Scott Quartet in London. Knoel presented music and shared stories from his impressive and illustrious career and also new solo material. In the clip Knoel discusses playing with Marshall Allen and John Gilmore in the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Minou // 11-12-17

Track: The Other People Place – Let Me Be Me [Warp Records]

Minou is current Digital Editor and Project Manager at Boiler Room and former Editor for Stamp The Wax. In the first of a four-part series she tracked the development of electro playing tracks from Kraftwerk, DMX Krew and Morphology. The featured track is by The Other People Place, one of the many aliases of Drexciya, and taken from the 2001 album Lifestyles of the Laptop Cafe, recently reissued on Warp.